Finding Annabeth
by StillFallingAngel
Summary: Request fic of A Faerie Tale: This is how finding Annabeth went down, as requested by CrazyCookieChick.


**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to my therapist about my depression. **

**Warnings: Slash**

**Main Pairing: Nico/Percy (Nicercy)**

**AN: This is a request fic from _CrazyCookieChick_, who wanted an explantion for how Annabeth got out of the mirror. This takes place in Chapter Three in A Faerie Tale. **

Interlude for Chapter Three

It had been two days since Octavian had attacked Percy and discovered Annabeth was trapped in a mirror, and he _still_ didn't know which one. He swore he'd checked every mirror in the palace, but he didn't have anything to show for it.

Frustrated, Percy stormed into the bathroom and examined the things there, coming up with the same result. In a fit, he flung the silver hairbrush he was still holding across the room, forgetting for the moment that his favorite mirror was there and it would break upon impact.

Only it didn't. It bounced off the glass and tumbled to the floor, the impact leaving a strange, painful ringing in Percy's head. He wasn't aware that he'd dropped to his knees until Nico's arms wrapped around him, his voice framing the syllables of Percy's name with worry laced through it. With effort, he struggled out of the daze he'd found himself in and stared at the mirror.

"There's... something strange about that mirror," He managed to gasp out, grateful as Nico helped him to his feet. "It...didn't break."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Nico asked. "Cleaning up glass can be dangerous."

"No, I mean... It did something. Protected itself. The magic made my head hurt."

"Oh." Nico released him and walked over to retrieve the object from the floor and carefully circled the mirror, trailing his hand over the surface. "It doesn't feel particularly unusual... Just a faint hum of magic that could be a spell, but it certainly doesn't feel powerful enough to have affected the Queen..."

"No," Percy agreed, coming up beside him and peering at the mirror. "And I don't really feel it now, but I know I did when I hit up. There's a lot more magic in there than it feels like is there."

Nico shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how to undo a spell I can't even sense..."

Percy stared at it for another minute, then said softly, "I think I may know who can..." He returned to the dresser and pulled out the first shirt he saw, tugging it on before turning back to Nico. "Get dressed. We need to go talk to Octavian."

"Octavian!?" Nico stared at him, the mirror completely forgotten. "He tried to kill you."

"No," Percy corrected with a faint smile, "He tried to kill Annabeth. If my guess is right, it's not the first time he's done it either."

Nico stared, gesturing to the mirror. "You think he cast this spell?"

"It makes sense," Percy replied with a shrug. "Now let's go talk to a attempted murderer."

"Octavian," Percy called gently, and the man started. "Octavian, my name is Percy."

Octavian frowned, distrust shining in his blue eyes. He'd only gotten a small glimpse of Percy without glamour before he was dragged away. "Who are you?"

Percy smiled, taking a step forward and kneeling next to the bound augur. "I was a servant to the Faerie Queen Annabeth, but for the past three years I have also been Annabeth herself after she mysteriously vanished one night. I think, perhaps, you know what happened to her." He held out a sketch of the mirror and watched as Octavian's face paled.

"You... that... Where did you...," he stammered.

"From Annabeth's room," Percy answered easily, taking comfort in the fact that he could feel Nico's presence just behind him. "I'm guessing that this is what you used to make her disappear, though the magic in it is unfamiliar to me..."

"Of course not," Octavian returned, a frown creasing his forehead. "You're not a chaos faerie."

Percy blinked. "Chaos faerie?" Behind him, he could hear Nico draw in a sharp breath.

"Chaos faeries," Nico explained softly, "Chaos faeries have no magic of their own. Instead, they... manipulate the magic of others. Warp it in strange ways. Most faeries won't tolerate a chaos faerie living near them..."

Octavian snorted. Percy watched him curiously. "I take it you don't live in Tir-Na-Nog."

"None of your little goody-goody faeries would tolerate me anywhere near them," Octavian sneered. "I live in the Twilight Forest in Romanis."

Despite what Ovtavian had done, Percy couldn't help the stab of sympathy he felt for the man. He knew what it was like to be an outcast.

"It doesn't matter." Octavian didn't seem to appreciate Percy's pitying gaze because he scowled rather fiercely. "It took me five years to craft that spell. It's perfect. There's no way to break it."

"None at all?" Nico demanded. Percy merely frowned, turning the sketch of the mirror over in his hands.

"None," Octavian spat. "It uses her own power to maintain the spell. She generates infinite power, so the spell is infinitely strong. It can't be broken."

Percy's frown deepened and he slowly shook his head. "But when it was hit it reacted to protect itself... meaning for that brief moment not all of its power was going toward keeping Annabeth trapped..."

"But she didn't free herself," Nico pointed out.

"No," Percy agreed, "But she may need some help. I wonder..." He looked around, spotting a small table that looked promising. "Come here," he instructed, maneuvering Nico around until he was standing next to the table. "I need your help."

Nico gave him a rather bewildered look but allowed himself to prodded into position, eyeing both Percy and the table uncertainly. "What are you up to...?"

"I'm going to free Annabeth," Percy told him, feeling curiously calm. In all logic he should be fretting horribly about whether his idea would at all, but he wasn't. He'd made his decision, and he was _going_ to make it work whether the spell was supposed to behave like that or not.

Gripping the mirror firmly in his left hand, Percy wrapped his right around Nico's neck and pulled him down to mesh their mouths together in a slow, sweet kiss. When he felt the magic building within him, swirling all around, he raised his arm and brought the mirror down hard against the table's surface. As before, there was a sharp flash of something that made his head throb, but he flung his own power back at it, feeling a highly familiar presence do the same from the other side, then everything went white.

When his vision finally cleared, he was lying on something warm and comfortable and strangely near to the floor. He stared at the strong arm supporting him for several moments before he finally made the logical connection. Twisting around, he blinked up at Nico. "Did it work?"

Without waiting for a reply he swung his gaze around to take in the rest of the room, fixing immediately on a painfully familiar figure standing in her nightdress and looking highly confused.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked.

With Nico's help, Percy managed to get back to his feet. "Welcome back," he greeted gently, attempting a bow and only spared a painful encounter with the floor by Nico grabbing him again.

"Nico?" Annabeth continued, blinking slowly and looking around the room. "And Octavian? What are you doing... oh. _Oh_." Her head swung back around to catch Percy's gaze again. "How long?"

Percy winced. "Three years, more or less."

Annabeth's gray-hued eyes widened, then she sat down heavily on the floor. "Three years... how..." She stopped, gaze snapping back to Percy again, looking over him slowly. "Oh! You helped break the mirror."

Percy smiled and nodded, threading his fingers through Nico's and leaning against him more heavily. "I did. And I will gladly tell you more, but I'm tired and there's someone else who wants to see you…"

Annabeth's eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. "Piper.." She didn't say anything else, instead just rushing out of the room and up the stairs, no doubt running to her mate.

Percy shook his head after her before turning his attention back to Octavian, who had gone back to slumping against the stone wall in his cell.

"Let's go." Nico pressed a kiss to the top of Percy's head and guided him out of the room, not even bothering to look at Octavian again.

Percy tried not to either, purposely burying his head between Nico's neck and shoulder. "Alright. Using my powers like that really tired me out. Want to take a nap?"

Nico's hand slipped down Percy's spine until it rested on the small of his back. "Right. A nap…"

**AN: This was just a quick oneshot for that request. But, anyway, LOOK BELOW! **

**Hello, fabulous readers! So, I've had an idea. I've wanted to write something like a Nicercy fairytale, but didn't want to do just a oneshot, especially if I was doing multiple ones. I decided to do a story, each chapter a fairytale Nicercy-fied. You readers will review with the fairytale title you want to read and the one voted for the most every chapter I will write. **


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